College Romance
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: Alternate Reality. Riza thought it was just going to be another class. She hadn't counted on a rather interesting TA by the name of Roy Mustang.
1. Taking Notes

Author's note: This was previously posted in An Apple a Day. I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Taking Notes**

It started out innocently enough. There was one of those little post-it tabs stuck to her assignment when the grad student handed it back. The neat scrawl on it read: _Interesting reference. Have you read Molly Ivins' article on Sam Austin? Or did you find it in a biography?_

She'd looked up from the comment to see the grad student shoot her a smile. His name was Roy Mustang if she remembered correctly. She'd check the syllabus when she got back to her apartment. She actually had read that article. A quick check of the syllabus confirmed that Roy Mustang was the graduate assistant for the Political Satire and Commentary class. She turned in her next assignment with a sticky note on the corner reading: _Yes. I've read all three of her books of articles as well as her two on Bush. I referenced her once again in this assignment._

It was returned to her with another post-it tab on top. There was a little smiley face doodle and _She certainly makes political journalism readable, doesn't she?_

She didn't really think much of the exchange at that point. He'd simply been curious about where she'd learned a piece of information, and they had similar tastes in journalists. Then she'd turned in her midterm. The first section of the class had covered political commentary, and then they were moving on to political satire.

When she got her midterm back, the essay had been graded by the professor and then covered with post-it tabs by Mustang. At least, that was what she had assumed. The grade written on the paper and the notes on the tabs were in different handwriting. She had mentioned the Capitol Steps in the introduction of her essay. Mustang had gone through her essay, and every time she'd mentioned an event that had a song parody he'd stuck a tab next to it with the opening lyrics. On the last page was a sticky note with the message: _I started playing find the Cap Steps song with your essay. I hope you don't mind; it was the only way I was going to stay sane while reading over the rest of the midterms._

Her next assignment was turned with a post-it note reading: _I don't mind as long as you're not listening in on my phone calls. Have you downloaded this week's clip from their website?  
_

The two of them spent the rest of the term trading notes with various references to political comedy, mostly the Capitol Steps but there was some other material thrown in there. It was strange. Riza could count on one hand the number of times she'd actually spoken to Roy Mustang, but she felt like she knew him. The logical part of her pointed out that all she knew was they shared similar interests and opinions on politics, but she couldn't help feeling a connection. She was going to miss the notes when the class ended.

Then when the last assignment before the final essay was handed back, there was one last note. It was short and to the point: _____April 16th, 3 o'clock at the Seattle's Best by the bookstore. Meet me?_

The sixteenth was the first day of spring break, and she was there.

"Hi, Riza. Is it okay if I call you that? I mean, I know your name because of the assignments, but we've never really been introduced, and--"

"Roy," she cut him off. He gave her a lopsided smile, and she held out her hand. "How about you buy me a Chai Latte and get to know me from there?"

* * *

Theme: Passing Notes


	2. Java Jive

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Java Jive**

Caffeine is the life blood of many college students. It wasn't any surprise that there were twenty-seven coffee shops in and around the campus. And while Riza wasn't one of the coffee drinking hordes, she was a familiar face at a number of them. She wasn't a stranger at the Seattle's Best where Roy had asked to meet her which would have been in her favor if things had gone south. Except they hadn't. Riza had a wonderful time, and a second date had been scheduled for that weekend. And the coffee shop date became a standard for them.

Within two months, they had been to almost every coffee shop in area. Between their studies, they were often the best place to meet. In fact, several of their dates had simply been sharing a couch while working on their own homework. But that was all right. Riza found they didn't necessarily need to spend their time on fancy dinners or going out to clubs. No matter what they ended up doing together, Riza found herself having a good time. And some of the best dates they'd had were spent arguing over some point in a paper one of them was writing or just bouncing ideas off each other.

And Riza realized that she was in love one morning when she woke up with cramps too painful for her to even leave bed. She had called Roy to cancel their lunch date, and within an hour, he had let himself in to her apartment bringing with him food, chocolate, a hot water bottle, and two extra hot 20 oz. chai lattes from her favorite coffee shop.

"I wanted to make sure you're set for the day, Riza. I'll drop by with dinner later. Do you have anything you want me to turn in for you?"

No one had taken care of her when she felt like crap since her mother had left, and to tell the truth, she probably wouldn't have let them either. At least until now. Her response was to kiss him.

"Thank you."

* * *

Theme: Feeling Sick 


	3. We'll Sleep When We're Dead

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**We'll Sleep When We're Dead**

They had been dating nearly two months when Riza first met Roy's friends. She had heard of them already, but given how spontaneously their relationship had started, neither of them had felt like adding the pressure of their friends' opinions to the situation. But it was midterms, and neither of them honestly cared about other people's opinions at that point. All either of them wanted was to was get through the next week.

So Maes' first encounter with his best friend's newest girlfriend was at a coffee shop. He found Roy lounging on a couch, papers spread across the table in front of him and a blond curled up at his side. In comparison with some of Roy's former girlfriends, she was not beautiful. Attractive, yes, but Roy had dated women with supermodel potential before, and this woman did not fit that category.

Still, Roy was sitting there, an arm around her shoulders as he pointed something out to her in one of the books in front of them. His friend looked up just then and flashed him a grin.

"Hey Hughes, could you get us a venti chai latte and a venti mocha? Thanks."

He wasn't surprised at the request. When Maes returned, he found the pair disengaged from their studies. Roy took both cups, handing the chai latte his girlfriend.

"Riza, this is my best friend, Maes Hughes. Maes, this is Riza Hawkeye."

She smiled at him and held out a hand. "Pleased to meet you. Roy has mentioned you a number of times."

Maes raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that's a good thing."

She laughed, not a little giggle like he had expected but a real laugh. "Oh don't worry, I know some of the good stories too."

Well, at least she had a sense of humor. He smiled. "So how did you meet this idiot friend of mine? You seen like such a nice young woman."

"Hey!" Mustang protested. Riza elbowed him in the stomach.

"He was a Graduate Assistant for one of my classes. We hit it off once the class had ended."

"Honestly?"

"We started talking through notes in class and started dating once the class had ended."

"So what's all this then?" He gestured to the various papers and books spread out in front of the pair.

"Socieology of Politics, Satire and Comedy, Chick Lit, Law and Politics, TV and Crime, TV and Politics, and Xing Politics."

"My god, when do you two sleep?"

Roy shrugged. "Meh, we'll sleep when we're dead."

Maes watched the couple closely. Riza was defiantly not what he had expected but, there was something about this whole thing that was different. Then it struck him. He'd seen Roy with any number of girls, but he'd never acted like this before. His best friend was comfortable with this one. He wasn't putting on any of the act he normally used with women.

"I promised Gracia I'd pick her up at six, so I'd best be going.

On his way out the door, he glanced back at the couple. The image just seemed right to Maes. It looked completely natural for Roy to have Riza tucked against his side as they poured over her literature essay. He smiled. Roy had finally found himself a real partner.

* * *

Theme: something in your eyes 


	4. Full Disclosure

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Full Disclosure **

Friday nights they went out to the movies. Saturday nights, they'd watch videos at one of their apartments, but Fridays they went out. Roy's sister had given him a year long pass to the local theater. So on Friday, they'd go and see a late night movie. The late movie was their choice for a number of reasons. It was often fairly empty which allowed them to make commentary as they liked on the movie. There was something soothing about walking together late at night on their way home. There was a little café that was open until one on the way back to her apartment that they would sometimes stop at. Other times, they'd race through the late evening fog like children, eager to get back home. And of course when the movie was truly awful but there were too many people to mock it properly, there was always the time honored tradition of making out instead of watching the movie.

It was a very nice movie theater with seats whose arms could be raised. That meant they could use the last row as a couch if they wanted to. It made making out much more comfortable. They'd never gone as far as actually having sex in the theater, but there had been a couple of times when they'd been pretty close. There often was a reason they went running back to his apartment, which was the closer of the two, as soon as the movie was over.

Tonight was going to be one of those nights where she was in a hurry to get back to his apartment. The movie had been truly dreadful. She hadn't even been able to pay attention after the first twenty minutes. Roy was part of the reason for that, but still, most of the time Riza managed to watch at least the first half hour before giving up on a movie. She was currently feeling rather warm and hazy which was why she didn't snap at the two young men whose voices had pulled her from her own little world which consisted of herself and Roy. They were stretched out in the last row, which was empty except for them, Riza draped on top of Roy. Riza looked up, propping her arms on Roy's chest to be able to see who had interrupted them.

It was her two half-brothers. Through some sort of rotten luck, they had ended up in the same theater as herself and Roy. Jason and Alexander were the products of her mother's second marriage. Riza hadn't gotten to know them until her father had died when she was sixteen and the law decided she couldn't live on her own and sent her to her mother. She'd left home as soon as she'd graduated and avoided going home except when she absolutely had to. Her mother had married into a very upper class family, and everyone had ideas about what she should do with her life. Most of them didn't include her own plans for her life. And their plans would definitely not include Roy. Oh, the family knew she was dating but not who and not how deeply involved she was in the relationship.

All this raced through her mind. There were several reactions she could have to the interruption. As she was having a nice evening and had been enjoying herself highly so far, Riza settled on shocking the hell out of the idiot boys.

She tilted her head slightly and smiled a lazy smile. "Oh, is the movie already over?"

While the boys gaped at her, she smiled down at Roy. "Let's head home, shall we? I'm craving a late night snack."

Roy immediately picked up on her meaning, and they began to disentangle themselves from each other and straighten their clothes. She shot a smirk at the boys as she left the theater, fingers twined with Roy's. "Have a nice night boys. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

* * *

Theme: the theater or oh, is the movie over already?


	5. Christmas Together

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Christmas Together**

She didn't want to go home for Christmas. Of course, that wasn't unusual. She hadn't been fond of Christmas since going to live with her mother when she was sixteen. For Riza, going home for Christmas meant endless rounds of parties and endless matchmaking attempts. And now that the family knew about Roy, there would be no end to the grief she would get. Oh, the family wanted her to settle down all right, but they wanted her to do it with someone of their choice, preferably a young doctor, lawyer, or wealthy business man. A grad student studying political science was not suitable in their eyes. Not that she particularly cared about their opinion on the subject, but it did make her all the more unwilling to go home for the Christmas holiday this year.

She did feel rather badly when Roy informed her that he was going to stay with her for Christmas instead of spending it with his family. He claimed it wasn't fair of him to inflict his family on her when he was being spared hers. In the end, they ended up deciding to spend the holiday season with Roy's best friend Maes and his wife, Gracia. The four of them had a very interesting adventure in picking out the Christmas tree, involving Roy and Maes and their determination to get the tallest tree possible that would fit in the house. They also ended up with about twenty yards of evergreen garlands, a very large wreath, several bunches of mistletoe, and more lights than Gracia and Riza thought they would ever need. Well, unless they had to land an airplane in the backyard.

It took them another two days to get the house decorated to Gracia's satisfaction. It looked spectacular, even if the boys' original scheme for the outdoor Christmas lights had been vetoed. Riza found it relaxing. She'd forgotten how nice Christmas was when you weren't trying to impress visitors. It was all right for the tree to be a little crooked or the decorations not match perfectly. And for some reason, she felt more at home with three people she'd only known for half a year than with her own family.

Which was perhaps how she found herself in the middle of an icing war. Originally, she and Gracia had been making gingerbread cookies. Then Roy had offered to help them decorate the cookies. And then Maes had walked in, and things had degenerated from there. Okay, so she had blue icing in her hair, green icing across her cheek, pink icing on her nose, and multicolored icing on her fingers. Her mother would have had a fit. Riza couldn't remember being this happy during the Christmas season since before her parents had split up. There was a knock at the door. Unable to resist, she to advantage of Roy's distraction and reached across the table to smear the blue icing that was on his nose.

Gracia, who was wearing the least amount of icing, went to answer the door. She came back minutes later, shaking with laughter and carrying a rather large box which she set on the table.

"Apparently," she told them, "now that I'm married, I qualify to get my very own fruitcake from Aunt Gertrude."

Roy eyed the box suspiciously. "That's an awfully large box for one fruitcake."

"I know. That's what worries me."

They all stared at the box in trepidation. Even Riza had heard horror stories about Aunt Gertrude's fruit cakes.

"Could we pretend it got lost in the mail?" Maes asked.

"I don't think so. Not for another few years at least."

Roy was still staring at the box. "Just open it all ready! If we're lucky, maybe it was damaged by the trip."

"I don't think you can damage fruit cakes."

Gracia took one of the kitchen knives and began unsealing the package. Inside there was newspaper and packing peanuts and more newspaper and three, count them three, fruitcakes.

They stared at them in horror. There was also a note. Gracia unfolded it and began to read it aloud.

"Dear Gracia, congratulations on finally becoming a married woman. We were beginning to worry quite frankly. Anyway, the fruitcakes are for you and your new husband. I hope you two will enjoy them. Remember to cut them in small pieces."

"Maybe there's some sort of gift inside them," Maes said hopefully.

His wife patted his shoulder. "You've been reading too many books. There's nothing inside those fruitcakes except an inedible mass."

Roy looked rather, well, gleeful was the only word she could think of to describe his face, and Riza began to worry. She loved her boyfriend, but there were times when she wondered how he had managed to not to end up as a Darwin Award winner.

"You know, we could conduct a scientific inquiry to figure out just how indestructible fruitcakes are."

Gracia looked a trifle concerned. "When you say 'scientific inquiry' what exactly do you mean? The last time you and Maes conducted a 'scientific inquiry' you nearly burned down your apartment."

Both Roy and Maes were trying to look innocent which was always a bad sign. Gracia and Riza shared a look.

"Let's not and say we did."

Thankfully, the boys were easily distracted once the neighborhood kids started a snowball fight. The teams had ended up dividing along the gender lines, and while there were fewer girls, Riza's team had better aim. Of course, the boys did have brute strength. Riza found herself unceremoniously scooped up and tossed over her boyfriend's shoulder.

He dumped her in a snow bank. "So, having a good Christmas so far?"

Riza pulled him down for a kiss. "Yes. Thank you."

Then she shoved snow down his pants. Giggling breathlessly, Riza skittered out of grabbing range. Hair full of snow, nose bright red, and shivering in the cold, Riza was having the best Christmas of her life to date. She hadn't realized how much happier she was when she had someone to spend it with. Roy managed to capture her again.

"Truce? We can go in and have some hot chocolate."

She nodded. With his arm wrapped around her waist and her head on his shoulder, they headed inside.

* * *

Theme: Holiday


	6. Term Papers and Other Things

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Term Papers and Other Things**

Riza was going insane. She consoled herself with the fact that this was her last finals week of her last term of her last year of university, but she still couldn't deny the fact that the course load was driving her batty. She was down to three term papers and one final, thank god. She was in the middle of reviewing her notes for the final which was the next day when Roy arrived at her door bearing pizza, chai lattes, ginger ale, and her proof read, forty page term paper. He didn't stay, of course; she didn't need the distraction.

She did need a break from reviewing notes however. So she settled down with pizza in one hand and drinks at her elbow to read over the paper he had proofread for her. As with any paper he proofread, it was covered with sticky notes of various shapes and sizes baring comments. Some of them were corrections, but others were comments on other things like word choice and order of arguments. Others were jokes or smiley faces. A couple were simply random statements such as: Monkeys have feet. In other words, it a typical paper proofread by Roy.

She read through it, taking notes where necessary. Thankfully, it wouldn't need as much rewriting as she'd feared. By the time she'd gotten to the last page, she'd eaten half the pizza and finished the first of the two lattes. The final page had something taped to its bottom corner and cover with a sticky note. The note read: _Riza Hawkeye, will you marry me?_

Under the note a ring of white gold with a pale blue diamond had been taped. She stared at for a moment, her study exhausted brain unable to comprehend what was going on. Then her lips began to quirk into a smile. It was a very Roy gesture.

Riza untaped the ring and slid it onto her left ring finger. Then she went hunting for her digital camera. Once she had a picture she was satisfied with, she transferred the image to her computer and checked to see if Roy was on IM right now. Then it was just a matter of sending him the picture of her wearing the ring and her answer:

_Yes.

* * *

_Theme: Errors Against Clarity_  
_


	7. Incentives to Elope

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Incentives to Elope**

Had there been a reasonable way to get out of this, they would have. Roy loved his family, but he would publicly admit that they were probably insane. Riza, on the other hand, wanted very little to do with her family; they were mostly her step-family actually, and they had never seen eye to eye. However, they were both aware that should they get married without informing their respective families, they would be paying for it for years. That was the reason why they were waiting in the private room of _Chantrell's_ waiting for their respective families to arrive.

"Here." Riza straighten his tie. "Now stop playing with it. Everything is going to be fine."

"You're sure about that?"

She sighed. "No, but it was either this or deal with the fallout for the rest of our lives."

Roy kissed her forehead. "I still say we should have eloped."

His mother chose that moment to walk in.

"Roy, Evie's running late, and your father's out helping Andi with her crew." Ming Yue Mustang was a four foot nine whirlwind. "Clarisse should be here in a few minutes. Who's this?"

Roy's arm went around Riza's waist. "Mom, I know I've mentioned Riza before."

"Of course, dear, but I never know with you. So this is Riza." She beamed at Riza. "What a lovely young woman. How did you get stuck with my son?"

It was a questioned she was used to. "We met in one of my classes and hit it off."

She was saved from having to say anything more by the entrance of two men, each carrying infants, and a tall raven haired woman managing triplets.

Roy laughed, taking one of the babies from his father. "Riza, this is my dad. And this little girl is Meiling. Craig, my brother-in-law, has her twin, Liang. Andi is the one managing the triplets. They're Caitir, Fiona, and Mairi."

Riza found herself mobbed by the trio who wanted to know everything about the 'pretty blond lady' as they put it. Roy provided no rescue as he had been recruited to help set up high chairs. The number of children increased when Roy oldest sister and her brood arrived. She was briefly introduced to Clarisse and her husband, Anton, before Geneva, Claire, and Marc joined their cousins in interrogating Riza.

And that was when her mother decided to walk in. Elizabeth Ashton, formerly Elizabeth Hawkeye, was immaculately groomed and dressed to the nines. Her husband, Riza's stepfather, wasn't much better. Elizabeth made a beeline for her daughter.

"Riza, what in the world is going on here? You were entirely vague about dinner tonight. Your brothers should be here shortly. And who are all these people?"

She smiled uneasily. "Mom, this is Roy Mustang. Roy, this is my mom, Elizabeth, and her husband, Colton Ashton. The rest of the folks here are Roy's family."

Riza was saved from having to give further explanations by the entrance of the youngest of Roy's sisters, Evelyn, and her family, the one family member of Roy's Riza had already met. And somehow, Evie had managed to pick up Riza's twin stepbrothers, Jason and Alexander. Riza wasn't sure how Evie was managing not to attack them with the diaper bag, but then she had two children under the age of five. Maybe that explained her ability to tolerate the idiot boys. That meant everyone was finally here. It took another five minutes of bickering and complaining to get everyone adequately seated so they could order dinner

Once everyone had ordered, Roy took her hand, and the two of them stood before the assembled group. He smiled nervously.

"We invited you all here tonight in part because we wanted you to have a chance to meet each other and in part because Riza and I have an announcement to make." He took a deep breath. "We're getting married."

Riza held her breath as silence descended for one moment. Then chaos broke loose. Roy tossed her a tight smile and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back. Maybe eloping was the better idea after all.

* * *

Theme: Because We Have To


	8. It Takes a Real Man

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**It Takes a Real Man**

"Do we have to wear skirts?"

"It's not a skirt. It's a kilt. There's a difference." Roy smirked at Havoc. "And yes, you have to wear it. You don't see Edward or Maes complaining."

"Hughes is insane, and Edward overheard his girlfriend say that kilts were sexy."

Roy shrugged. "You don't sound convinced of that."

"It's a skirt."

"It's not a skirt." Roy sighed. "Fine, don't wear it. But you get to tell Riza that you're refusing to wear a kilt at her wedding."

Havoc paled. "The damn things are her idea?"

He nodded. "Yes. I believe she decided upon it after having to sit through a lecture on what the proper type of tuxedo was by her brothers. It was one of the decisions that I wasn't consulted on. She just came home and informed me that the men in the wedding party would be wearing kilts instead of tuxedos. I didn't really mind that much since we'd already decided to visit Ireland, Scotland, and Wales on our honeymoon."

Havoc looked at the kilt again. "I guess it's not too bad. The penguin suit wouldn't have been any more comfortable. Wouldn't want to ruin her wedding after all. It's bad enough that she's marrying you."

Roy laughed. "Maybe if you catch the garter at the reception, you'll be able to keep a girlfriend more than a week for a change."

* * *

Theme: Adversity is a test for strong men


	9. Quiet Moments

Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.

* * *

**Quiet Moments**

Riza collapsed onto the bed only to be nearly crushed by her husband doing the same thing. Roy kissed her cheek.

"Next time we have the choice between a late breakfast and a two hour hike, let's take the breakfast."

She sighed. Her feet hurt. "Agreed."

The two of them were comfortably ensconced in a little Scottish bed and breakfast in an out of the way town along the Clyde Coast in Scotland. It wasn't the honeymoon suite, but it was perfect for the two of them. They had slipped away from the reception back home to catch a late flight to Glasgow and had proceeded to spend the next week and a half exploring the wilds of Scotland. They had another few days before they would have to head back home, but Riza planned to enjoy it. Even if it did mean she wanted to go back to bed for the next few hours.

Roy slid an arm around her and snuggled into her side. "Wake me for lunch."

She nuzzled his neck. "What makes you think I'll be awake?"

"Cause you're always punctual." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "Love you, Riza."

"Mm." This wasn't what she had expected when she started her Political Commentary and Satire class, but she wasn't going to complain. She had ended up married to a man she could quite happily spend the rest of her life with, and that was better than the A she had gotten in the class.

Roy pressed another kiss to her temple. "Sleep. If we miss lunch, we can always fend for ourselves down in the village."

Riza closed her eyes and snuggled into her husband's warmth; she could live with that.

* * *

Theme: Honeymoon Suite


End file.
